2017 CZO Webinar Series: Critical Zone and Society

06 Apr 2017

2017 CZO Webinar Series: Critical Zone and Society.

The Critical Zone (CZ) is the uppermost layer of Earth’s continents that provides all of the terrestrially based resources and services required for sustaining healthy and functioning natural environments and human communities. CZ science provides the framework for a holistic systems approach to Earth surface and environmental science by considering the complex interactions between rock, soil, water, air and terrestrial organisms that influence Earth as a habitable system.

A primary tenet of this webinar series is that to achieve environmental sustainability, society must first understand the CZ system and the coupled physical, chemical, and biological processes and services of the CZ. Understanding how such processes operate, especially those that are of value to society, with and without the presence of humanity, and how they may be altered due to global climate and land-use change, is essential for developing environmental management protocols and sustainable resource-consuming practices.